Temptress
by R.A. Bourbon
Summary: "I wouldn't go as far as calling what goes on between Eric and I a "thing". It is more like a delayed lapse of judgement." Eric Coulter
1. Chapter 1

Rarely was Lucinda Noble so stressed to the point of self combustion. Usually the petite brunette was cool and collected but it was hard to be when everything seemed to be swallowing her where she stood. It was one issue after the next to resolve. Livia had completely ruined a sheet cake by forgetting to add eggs to the batter, Cat was slacking in the vegetable station, and she could not even fathom checking the mess hall to see if the boys were actually doing their job of collecting dirty dishes for washing. It was tedious, but it was her job. Lux loved running the cafeteria. It was not the coolest or most rewarding job in the world, but she loved to cook. It had always been a passion of hers. Even whilst in Erudite faction she read countless cookbooks and worked to perfect her culinary techniques. Nobody was better with a knife than she.

"Lux, we are out of cornbread!" A voice called to her tentatively. She paused to rub her tired eyes before opening the walk in fridge where she knew another platter of sweet cornbread was. Lux handed over the steel tray to Van who grinned his thanks and disappeared once more to place slices around the tables for greedy hands. It was almost thankless work for as soon as food was added it was gone.

"Laura, can you mix up a super quick double batch of cornbread? Van just took off with my last sheet pan." Lux called to the hardworking blonde carefully chopping carrots for stew later in the night. She offered a nod to the red faced leader before continuing her task.

Lux took a moment to get water as lunch winded down. The crowds were growing more sparse. The tables were layered with dirty spoons, platters, and mugs. She let out a sigh and swished ice water around in her dry mouth. She tried hard to ignore the approaching figure, but was unable to so instead she put on a friendly smile, "Hello, Max."

Her leader nodded in greeting and stood beside her with arms crossed. It was hard to tell if Max were irritated or not. His body language was always as offputting as today. Lux tapped her fingers on the glass in her palm. She pressed it to her warm neck with a long sigh, "Busy day?"

Lux chuckled at the question, "It's always a busy day here in Dauntless. Is that what you needed me for? To ask how my day was going?" Lux liked to tease the older man. He was truly not as intense as he appeared to be, and his eyes crinkled in humor at her words. Max did not let many talk to him in the same manner, though, so she was still slightly hesitant in her jokes. Today he found her jokes amusing.

"Actually, I wanted to let you know about training schedules coming up with the new initiates."

Lux groaned letting her head fall back, "Is that coming up already? I swear we just added twenty mouths to feed last month."

"Sometimes it feels that way." Max agreed. It was then that Lux could see the exhaustion in his eyes. The tightness of his mouth was unnerving as he scowled. His face had become tired in his time as leader. Lux bit her lip at just how old Max looked. Dauntless was not for the old or the weak. Soon someone would be taking Max's position as leader over the entirety of Dauntless.

In the years she had been within the faction she had never seen weakness from Max. He was tough, ornery, and almost mean tempered. A typical Dauntless born. Lux was still eyeing him when he arched a brow at the intense observation. She blinked as a response and put on a shy smile. Sometimes it was hard to leave her Erudite tendencies behind. She was still as intelligent and observant as before, only now it could get her in trouble more than aid her. Dauntless was not about observing. It was not about facts or data, but rather fearlessness and bravery. Everything was so quick here and she got swallowed by the crowds on occasion because of her slow way of over analysing and thinking. She often blamed it on daydreaming which made other leaders laugh. To them she was just another dumb girl with her head in the clouds. They were all wrong.

"In the coming weeks we will be expecting the usual twenty or so transfers. Just make sure we have adequate meals for them all. Hell, they can eat cheese sandwiches for all I care. Nobody said we had to feed them well. Though I know you will. You're not mean enough to send a kid away with a sliver of bread as a meal. I like that about you. Reminds me of my daughter."

Max closed himself off then and moved to walk away when he suddenly stopped and pivoted, "Oh, also, the leaders will be having meetings the entirely of next week as well as during training. I hate to inconvenience you, Lux, but we will need meals brought to our offices. Four and Eric mostly, because they will be grading. Their work is going to be tedious so they will be eating by themselves. I will be sending more help your way while we adjust."

Lux could do nothing but nod in acceptance but her gut clenched at the thought of Eric Coulter and delivering his meals. Just what she needed from him: jokes about her being a waitress on top of a glorified lunch lady. Sometimes she wanted to beat him with a wooden spatula but refrained. She did not need enemies inside Dauntless. Eric would probably be the worst type of enemy to have. He was cruel, and relentless. Eric was gunning for Max's job and would not let anything get in his way.

"Hey, kitchen wench!" A husky voice called making her eyes close tight. She clenched a fist in irritation. Speak of the devil and he shall appear.

Eric Coulter was walking towards her with an almost pleased smirk playing at his mouth. The heavy black boots he wore thudded against the cement flooring of the cafeteria, echoing from the cavernous ceiling above. Her eyes took him in from head to toe: freshly cut hair with the sides cropped close, the two ebony piercings lodged above one arched eyebrow, his broad chest covered by the thin cotton of a black tee shirt, and the leather vest over it that kept his weapons close. A revolver was at his side and she knew from personal experience how good he was with a firearm in his hands. There was not much Eric was not good at doing with his hands.

"What do you want, Coulter?" She bit back in annoyance as his muscled frame came to an abrupt halt before her. Lux was at least an entire foot shorter than he, and she struggled to make eye contact with him standing so close. Her head was forced back on her neck in an uncomfortable position. He smirked more so at her discomfort, "Is that any way to greet an old friend, Noble?"

She scoffed and turned on the heel of her booted foot. He followed after her with long strides. Eric came to a halt before her putting a hand to her upper chest. She knocked it aside with clenched teeth, "We have never been friends, and you know better than to touch me."

"Or what?" He mocked her with blue-grey eyes shining. The evident humor flashed in his eyes briefly as they continued to study one another.

Lux had never been a fan of Eric Coulter. They had been in the same classes growing up together in Erudite. She briefly remembered his smiling face and twinkling eyes hidden behind a pair of flashy silver rimmed glasses. He had always been a know it all as a child, and even more so as an adult. Eric had all the answers. What set Eric apart from all the other Erudite boys was his boldness. He was the first in their grade to kiss a girl. The first to drink a beer and sneak out of the faction complex. He gloated at age fifteen when he lost his virginity to a Dauntless girl on guard the night before. He had always been a little shit, and Lux hated him for it.

"We were school pals, no?" Eric lifted a brow once more and for some reason the action irritated Lux more so than his question. She wanted nothing more than to knock the smirk from his pompous face. If anything the move from Erudite to Dauntless had made Eric even more arrogant. She assumed it was the position of power in which he had found himself. Give a cocky man a stick and he would do nothing more than show off just how much bigger his was than the rest.

"I think we spoke all of three words to each other the entirety of our school pal days. In fact," she narrowed her eyes at the smirking man before her with his head cocked to the side as he listened, "I recall you telling Anderson Poole I was a butter face with a fat ass."

He laughed at the words she spoke and brought a hand up to his lips to hide the grin. The smirk on his lips let her know he indeed remembered the words he said. She hated him for it. Lux spun away once more from Eric and started for her office. She went to close the heavy metal door behind her only to have it stuck in place by a familiar booted foot. She let her head fall back in a groan and threw the door open, "What do you want, Eric?"

"I just wanted to chat. I heard you were delivering my meals next week. Wanted to make sure you knew who you were messing with before you went and spit in my food."

"Believe me, Eric, I would do much worse to you than spit in your food." She hissed between pressed lips.

"So spunky," he chuckled with a wink. He rapped the door with his knuckles, "I'll be seeing you around. Bye, Lucinda."

It took all of her to not throw a can of pineapples sitting atop her desk at the back of his head. Lux let her fingers relax and studied the half moon impressions left on her palms. He knew she hated being called Lucinda. Her throat tightened at her birth given name. She had not gone by that name in many years since leaving Erudite behind. It left a bitter taste in her mouth hearing it used by someone she was not even remotely close to. She had her reasoning behind hating her name, and it was almost unlikely that Eric would know why.

Lux sat down at her battered desk topped with mountains of paperwork of all sorts. She was swamped by schedules, orders, and menu plans. She took in a deep breath and reached for a scattered piling of new requests put in by Dauntless members. She was diligent about reading each and every one, and tried her hardest to cater appropriately to every request no matter how small. Most were do able: fried chicken, German chocolate cake, and even pot roast. Her fingers clenched of their own accord when she read over the last request in the pile which had Foie Gras and Caviar scrawled across the front in small capitals. Above the offending request was the name that made her curse aloud and crumble the paper in a ball.

"Fucking asshole." She mumbled under her breath before starting an ingredient list for Max of things she needed from other factions. She shook her head at the idiotic request still balled up on her desk. She let out a calm sigh and quietly smoothed the crumpled slip out upon the scarred wood. Lux smirked to herself and scribbled the words live goose on her list for Max. She would see his face now in her mind: dark eyes narrowing at the listed words almost to see if he had misread the elaborate cursive lettering before him. He'd chuckle, and shake his head, but sooner or later Max would return to Lux with what she had asked of him. He always did. She laughed under her breath, "You want goose liver, Coulter, I'll give you goose liver."


	2. Chapter 2

Eric had started to spend a lot of his free time in The Pit. He liked to think it was for the sake of socialization, but he had very few friends. There was always someone wanting to hang onto him to raise their position inside Dauntless, though. It was not hard that night to find an unsuspecting group of last years initiate class. He could tell they were still semi terrified of his presence there. The idea brought a smirk to his lips as he sipped his beer. There was something about being feared that brought Eric Coulter pleasure. He loved the feeling of being a fearsome leader more so than the actual leadership aspect of his job. His smirk turned to a frown as he thought of his job and just why he was there in the first place. Max would not have thought twice about putting him into a place of power if it had not been for Jeanine. He chugged his beer to forget. He could almost relax for a moment but that was before his eyes met hers.

Lucinda Noble was a mystery to the stoic man. He stood still as their eyes continued to meet across the way. With a quirk of his brow he had her looking away. She shared a few words with the dark haired girl clinging to her side before disappearing from the open atrium room. Eric frowned once more and followed her. Hooking a left down the dimly lit hall led him straight to the cafeteria. He rolled his eyes. How typical of her to return to work when it was midnight.

"Are you following me?" She stated abruptly from the shadows of the room. She leaned forward into the light slightly to reveal her crossed arms, narrowed eyes, and tapping toe. Eric barked a laugh, "Why would I desire to follow you around, Lux?"

"You tell me." She muttered almost to herself. She pushed off from the wall with a booted foot and started towards him. Lux's arms were still tightly crossed over her chest. He spared a glance there briefly. Lux was more than blessed in the upper proportions of her slim figure. Eric had never given her a second glance before now, but he was surprised by how trim she was. Lean muscles corded her arms, her hip bones protruded slightly over the tight band of her skinny jeans, and the cropped tank she wore was almost nonexistent. The tiny slip of fabric revealed the expanse of her toned stomach and the peaking of a tattoo decorating her delicate rib cage. He was impressed momentarily for the rib cage was the worst spot for a tattoo no matter the size. Eric had no idea she even had a tattoo.

"Can you stop staring at my tits? It's disturbing." She snapped in irritation which in turn made him grunt, "I was studying your ink, smart one."

"Oh." Lux sighed. Her hand came up to graze over the tender skin there. The tattoo under her fingertips was new. She had finally gotten the courage to visit Tori at the tattoo parlor last weekend. The word there meant a lot to Lux. In her mother's flowing script the black ink spelled out, **_Remember_**.

"Remember what?" Eric asked curtly. He sounded, for once in his life, genuinely interested in the ink on her skin. Lux blinked in surprise and looked down at her own skin. She bit at her chapped lower lip wondering if she wanted to share her mother's words with Eric Coulter of all people. He knew who her mother was. Correction: had been. Lux's parents had been gone for longer than she had been in Dauntless.

"My mother always wrote it inside my birthday cards every year. She wanted me to always remember who I was. Who I am." Lux was saddened at the thought of her deceased parents but refused to let it show. She would not allow him to see her weak or broken. Lux refused to let that ever happen.

"It's been awhile, hasn't it?" Eric spoke softly surprising both himself and the petite brunette before him. He did not often take it upon himself to ask personal questions or even care about the answer. For some reason he was intrigued by the discussion.

Normally Lux would have left by now but she stayed glued in place staring Eric down. She nodded to her office door beside her and opened the thick steel plated entrance door with a silver key. Eric followed after her in silence and took a seat atop her used and abused desk which had seen better days. He almost didn't trust the old piece of furniture to support his body weight but remained glued there nonetheless. Lux took to her plush office chair and kicked off her leather boots. It felt good to have her bare feet out and breathing even if Eric looked disgusted by her bare toes spreading in the breeze.

"Did you follow me so we could have a pity party over my parents?" She finally spoke with a deep frown taking over her usual smiling face. She was tired, and Eric could see the lines of exhaustion and stress marring otherwise pristinely white skin. Lux had moved to position herself with an elbow braced on the desk. Her head rested on one dainty wrist.

"You look like shit." He spoke instead of answering her question making her scoff in disbelief.

"I'll remind you of how shitty you look, too, once you're awake for twenty hours of the day taking care of sniveling eighteen year olds who just left their mommy behind in another faction. Do you even remember what it was like for us? I never cried, but fuck, that one boy did the entire two weeks."

"Holden Grant." He pointed out. He remembered his name vividly in his mind because he had kicked the slender Abnegation boy's ass repeatedly the entirety of initiation.

It was not his fault that Nero kept pairing him with the stiff. Eric had not particularly enjoyed beating the ever loving shit out of him, but the kid deserved it. His sniveling kept everybody up at night in the dorms until finally one night Eric threatened to smother him in his sleep if he could not shut up.

It was almost smooth sailing from that point forward. The stiff had not made it into Dauntless. This was before Max changed the rules regarding initiation, too. Holden had given up and left on his own accord to be factionless. Eric shivered at the thought. Who would chose to live on the streets instead of just trying? All it would have taken is the stiff to suck it up and deal. He could have succeeded but he did not have the heart to punch someone back, or shoot a gun, or even drink a beer. Holden should have stayed in Abnegation where he belonged.

"I didn't think you would remember his name." Lux stated. It was her turn to quirk a brow in Eric's direction. She watched the man before her shrug nonchalantly, "It's hard to forget someone that annoying. Kind of like you and Four."

"Four is a good guy."

Eric scoffed and rolled his grey eyes towards the high ceiling, "Four is a chump and a half. Don't tell me you like that loser."

"What if I did? I'm allowed to like whomever I wish. Plus, Four is sweet under the hard exoskeleton he surrounds himself with. Unlike someone I know who is just a complete and utter asshole for no reason whatsoever."

"You better not be talking about me, Noble. Remember who is a leader here these days. I would hate for you to take up guard duty at the wall instead of baking cookies all damn day long."

"Newsflash, Eric, but I do way more than bake cookies all day. I run a restaurant for the most part. I feed hundreds of people every single day several times a day. If you want to trade jobs for a week be my guest."

"You wouldn't be able to handle my job." He laughed bitterly at her suggestion as if it were the funniest joke he had heard. It was almost truly a joke to him. His job was a nightmare at times. Running a kitchen could not be that difficult. She was exaggerating the hardship.

"How about this," she started with eyes alit with fury, "you can help me in the kitchen for a week so you can see just how difficult it is. Then when the new initiates start I will help you with training. We'll see who had the harder job afterwards. Just so you know it will be me."

He furrowed his brow, "Why the hell would I take time from my already busy day to help you? What do I get out of this?"

"Max said he would send in extra help for me. Maybe it will show initiative in his eyes. I mean, I know you're busting your balls trying to get his job."

"So is every other fucking leader out there! You don't see any of them helping you out for the sole satisfaction of you proving your job is hard. You wanna know what's hard? Pulling the trigger on a living human being and watching them die. You couldn't handle one minute as a guard or outside this complex. My job isn't just taking care of sniveling teenagers. I deal with real problems and without me this faction would be shit. Don't ridicule me about my dedication to Dauntless. I live and breathe this faction. Do you?"

Without another word Eric rose from his perch on her desk and stormed from the office. He ran a hand over the shaven side of his head and smoothed back the longer top. Lux had this unique ability to push his buttons. Nobody in Dauntless could make Eric break like she could, and he hated it. He really enjoyed messing with the former Erudite for various reasons, but she was just so infuriating at times.

"What a fucking snob. Who does she think she is?" He sneered as he stalked towards the long hallway of apartments in which leaders called home. The doors were plain black but numbered kind of like the old hotels they scouted on occasion booting out the lingering factionless making homes there amongst the debris. Eric stopped in front of number fifteen which was his apartment. He unlocked the door and swung it open into his living space.

It was small, but perfect for just himself alone. A sleek charcoal couch hugged one wall with a coffee table placed before it. He rarely used the coffee table for anything other than resting his boots upon, but he stacked books there on occasion to make the room look more homey. He was not home very often truly to read the books waiting there. He thumbed through the weathered shelf of titles: Tom Sawyer, Call of the Wild, Pride and Prejudice. Eric was a collector of old books and he enjoyed finding new ones in their long treks throughout the city. He had read them all slowly over time. Most novels in the case were dog eared and worn, obviously loved by tender hands. The spines were cracked and abused. Eric ran his finger over them one at a time with a sigh. He just didn't have the time any longer to sit down to read.

Beside the shelf was his own desk in which he did all of his filing, paperwork, and computer correspondence. Currently the space was messy with papers much like Lux's had been. Eric paused to neatly stack the papers and Manila folders so they did not appear so haphazard atop the wooden surface. He ran a hand over his face and glanced at the digital clock reading the time: 1:24 am. He needed sleep, but he needed to finish the paperwork for Jeanine more so. After a hour of nonstop typing he had converted the files needed to pass along to Jeanine herself. He saved them and sent out an email marking the message as Attention Jeanine: Divergence. He hated these emails. They made him feel a wrench of guilt straight through his gut. It was like someone was sucker punching him over and over again right in the stomach. Eric shook out his head and sighed powering down the desktop computer. His head was pounding, and his eyes were blurry as he settled down for bed amongst clean sheets and soft pillows. Sleep found him easily, but he dreaded waking in the morning. It was the first day of aptitude testing before the choosing ceremony commenced. He always dreaded that one day of the year because he knew deep down he was killing kids. Innocent children were dying all because of their traits marking themselves as different from the rest. The thoughts almost kept him awake some nights. Some nights he woke up soaked in sweat saying her name: Jeanine.


End file.
